A Global Clock Model for the Consortium Blockchains

Abstract

We propose a global clock model to achieve time synchronization for consortium blockchains. Based on the existing consortium blockchain framework, a global clock service node is added. We use the Byzantine fault-tolerant algorithm to ensure the stability of the global clock node services. In addition, Cristian and Berkeley time synchronization algorithms are used to improve the confirmation of timestamp information, so as to achieve strong consistency of consensus time. This method can strike a balance between the transaction performance and the timestamp consistency requirements. This method meets the time accuracy requirements of practical business applications, and effectively benefits the promotion of blockchain technology in time-sensitive business scenarios.